Jacks is FIVE!

Well, almost....

His real birthday is next week, but the football game was away this weekend, so we jumped on the date to plan the party.

The theme: Super Jacks
(this is an original superhero of Jacks's own creation, helped along with some creative skills from his father)

The plan: A simple park party

The execution: Have cake and play at the park. Oh yeah, and everyone needs a superhero cape. (this is the part of the blog where I go on and on about sewing 20+ superhero capes over the past couple of weeks. I will refrain for now because I'm tired. This post might have to be all about letting the pictures speak for themselves)

The result: Perfect!

Today was the sunniest, breeziest, fall-iest, most gorgeous beautiful day which was tailor made for being spent in a park eating cake. Each guest received a superhero cape with a white emblem on the back which could be colored, a mask was selected (white or black), and playing ensued. After some good time park fun, all the children were gathered on the hill for some hilarious group photos, then cupcakes and snacks were enjoyed by all.

And that was the whole plan. And it was just right.

Enjoy some pictures of the big day. It was a huge success!

Here are the kiddos getting ready for the party....And the cake.....

The cupcakes
(cake and cupcakes made by Cakeapotomus, toppers made by Joe!)
The capes....
And the capes in creative action....

The juice boxes.....The goody bags....
The tiny superheroes who can't sit still for long.....
The big moment.....
Joe got in on the fun as the villain.....

This is possibly my favorite action shot ever....

I call this picture "Reunion."
(Tristan - with the curly hair - has been in school with Jacks, Allen, and Carter since infancy. And he has been at a new Pre-K school this year. The boys were thrilled to see each other.)

Nealy was in heaven following her cousins around.....

This might have to be about it for this post. There are nearly 300 pictures from the day. It is a lot to rifle through when I'm trying to watch SNL with one eye and blog with the other.

But it is important to reflect on the fact that my tiny baby has turned 5 years old out of the blue, and he's not tiny anymore. Nor is he my baby. He's a big boy who knows so much and can almost read and can't wait to start kindergarten and loves superheroes and comic books and loves his family and his home and his friends and he might be a little bit hard to handle at times, but he's my precious boy who I will always be proud of and support and love and be continually amazed by. (pardon the run ons, poor sentence structure, verb inconsistency - I don't teach language arts anymore....)

Here's one last shot of the big boy loving every moment of his big day. It was a wonderful party spent with great friends and family. I am generally at a loss for perfect moments like these.